External fixation devices have been commonly used for various treatments of bone conditions. Such bone conditions include leg lengthening, osteotomies, arthrodesis, open fracture fixations, compound fracture fixations, and other bone conditions amenable to treatment by use of an external fixation assembly. For example, external fixation devices are typically used in treatment of bones wherein frequent wound care is necessary to treat an open wound or a surgical site within an extremity.
Although current external fixation devices are adequate, many external fixation devices are relatively large and include numerous components, are complicated to use, difficult to adjust, and involve challenging postoperative care and use. Thus, improvements may be made. For example, current external fixation devices involve relatively large and numerous components, creating operative difficulties to both the practitioner and postoperative difficulties to the patient. Many devices, for instance, involve a ring or “halo” member disposed about an affected area to provide support to pins for fixating bone matter. Such components, however effective, are relatively bulky and create difficulty for the physician to insert the pin and for the patient to move independently.
These ring or halo fixation devices have been used by orthopedic surgeons and podiatrists in the treatment of some foot injuries and maladies. Some injuries or conditions involving the foot or ankle require that these devices be applied to the bones of the foot (e.g., calcaneus, tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges) and the lower leg bones (e.g., tibia and fibula). In such circumstances, pins may be inserted into both the foot and lower leg bones in order to secure the fixation device. However, assemblies currently available in the art have limited rotational ability for a given pin, which is exacerbated by the complex and varied placement of a set of pins being used in a given assembly.
There is a need to provide an external fixation device that involves less components and may be used to articulate a bone pin around multiple axes of rotation while still being relatively easy to use and secure.
Thus, the present state of the art reflects a need for an improved external fracture pin assembly which has a simpler fastening arrangement and greater rotational and angular bone pin adjustability features.